91: Chapter 91 Deliberation and Decision-Making

Li Xuanji and Clan Leader Li Huaming walked quickly to the side of three Spirit Medicine plants, each about half a foot long. They crouched down, their expressions grave, and began to observe them carefully with caution.

After repeated confirmation, a shocking brilliance erupted in both of their eyes—these Spirit Plant leaves were pale gold, and their roots were coiled like Dragon whiskers, emitting an incomparably noble aura. These were none other than the main ingredient for refining the Golden Core Medicinal Pill, the incomparably precious Third Grade Spirit Plant—Golden Yuan Grass!

It was just a pity that although these few stalks of Golden Yuan Grass had grown for many years and absorbed enough Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, they still needed time to fully mature. Judging by their growth, it would take at least another twenty years before they could be harvested for medicine.

Calming his excitement, Li Xuanji carefully cast a Spell, first digging out these few stalks of Golden Yuan Grass completely, along with the precious Spiritual soil around their roots.

His movements were gentle, fearing that he might damage even a single root system. He then solemnly placed the Golden Yuan Grass into a Cold Jade Box that had been prepared in advance, to lock in its vitality and avoid any accidents upon departure, ensuring that these few Spirit Medicine plants could return to the Li Family unscathed.

It took half a day, and the group had almost completely ransacked the entire Spirit Medicine garden, leaving not a single blade of grass behind.

All mature Spirit Medicine that met the age requirements for Alchemy were collected. Some highly valuable and rare Spirit Seeds were even dug up whole along with the soil, ready to be brought back to the Li Family's Spirit Medicine garden for transplantation and cultivation as the Family's long-term assets.

In the end, the group was satisfied, their faces filled with uncontrollable ecstasy and smiles. Carrying their heavy spoils, they slowly walked out of this already looted and somewhat desolate Spirit Medicine garden, soared into the sky, and flew toward the square at the top of the mountain, calculating in their hearts how to use this huge wealth to achieve a qualitative leap in the Family's strength in the short term.

This harvest not only greatly enriched the Family's Alchemy foundation and solved the urgent needs, but also provided a solid resource guarantee for the cultivation of future Disciples, and even left extra resources to recruit a batch of suitable Loose Cultivators, allowing the Family's strength in Huangfeng Prefecture to reach a higher level.

After spending another two hours searching the Lu Family grounds, Li Xuanji led the group for several days to search all of the Lu Family's valuable industries and resources in Didou County, and then returned to Qingfeng Mountain.

...

Qingfeng Mountain, Council Pavilion.

Inside the pavilion, sandalwood incense curled, and purple smoke drifted, isolating this space from the killing aura outside.

Three Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Li Family sat around a simple round table made of purple sandalwood, their expressions grave as they whispered about the future direction of the Family.

It had already been seven days since that thrilling battle that decided the fate of the Family—the destruction of the Lu Family.

Although the most urgent post-battle cleanup and defense deployment matters had been basically handled, the Family's operation must never stagnate.

For a Cultivation Family with several Foundation Establishment Cultivators, no matter who was lost, the Family must return to the right track.

Thinking back to this battle to protect the Family, the price was extremely painful.

Not only did the highly respected Clan Chief fall from exhaustion while guarding the Formation eye, but thirty-eight Qi Refinement Stage clansmen also stained the ancestral hall with blood. This included thirteen elders of the Xuan generation, seventeen pillars of the Hua generation in their prime, and eight young talents of the Chang generation.

The grand defensive Formation was almost destroyed, and the consumed Talismans and Medicinal Pills were piled up like a mountain, almost emptying the Family's treasury.

However, misfortune and fortune are interdependent; things turn around after reaching an extreme.

The Family made a decisive decision, found a strategic opportunity in the crisis, and wiped out the Lu Family, their arch-enemy for many years.

The massive amount of treasures obtained from the Lu Family's Treasure Pavilion perfectly filled the resource gap caused by battle losses and allowed the Family's overall foundation to achieve a qualitative leap, stepping onto a new level.

As for the territory of Didou County that the Lu Family originally occupied, the Li Family did not reach out to occupy any of it.

Firstly, the current situation was changing rapidly, with various forces eyeing them covetously, so it was not advisable to expand excessively and attract public anger; secondly, they remembered the iron law set by Old Ancestor Li Anping when he was alive—before the Family produced a Golden Core Stage Cultivator, they would never cross the line, only focusing on managing this small plot of land in Anping County.

As for who would eventually end up with Didou County, it was not an issue the Li Family needed to worry about for the time being.

However, before leaving, Clan Leader Li Huaming used a Formation to cut off the most core section of the Lu Family's Second Grade High Grade Spiritual Vein and brought it back to Qingfeng Mountain. Before long, Qingfeng Mountain would be able to give birth to a Second Grade Low Grade Spiritual Vein with the help of this remnant core of the Second Grade High Grade Spiritual Vein, enhancing the Family's foundation.

The three sat together, engaging in heated debate, analyzing the pros and cons, and after discussing for a full two hours, they finally tentatively finalized several important decisions regarding the survival of the Family.

First was the matter of compensation; they must issue the compensation for the clansmen who sacrificed themselves for the Family as soon as possible to appease the people and comfort the heroic spirits.

As for the funeral, it would be held uniformly after the beast tide had completely ended.

Secondly, it was the adjustment of the power structure.

Given the fall of the Clan Chief, it was tentatively decided that Clan Leader Li Huaming would serve as the acting Clan Chief, leading the overall situation, with the other three Foundation Establishment Cultivators fully assisting to handle the complicated daily affairs of the Family and ensure the smooth flow of orders.

Finally, and most importantly, it was to quickly convert the spoils obtained from the Lu Family into the strength of the clansmen.

From today on, until the end of the beast tide, the salaries and task rewards of all clansmen in the Family would be doubled.

This move was intended to encourage the clansmen to shake off their grief as soon as possible; after all, the future of the Family still required everyone to work together.

What the Family needed right now was for the clansmen to continue moving forward and do their jobs well, not to be unable to extricate themselves from endless grief.

If they remained depressed for a long time, it was feared that the clansmen's state of mind would be tarnished. At such a critical moment of rapid change, this would not only affect their cultivation progress but might also bury huge hidden dangers for the Family.

...

A month later, deep in Wangshan Town, in a secret room with strict Restrictions, the atmosphere was completely different.

The four walls of the secret room were made of thick black gold stone, isolating all prying eyes and Spiritual Qi fluctuations from the outside.

Only a few moonstones embedded in the walls emitted a cold and quiet radiance, illuminating the room with a cold and murderous air.

Li Changqing sat cross-legged on a thick futon, his eyes slightly closed, his expression as grave as water in an ancient well.

His aura was restrained to the extreme, as if he had merged with the world. If not seen with one's own eyes, it would be difficult to detect that a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was sitting here.

After a long time, he suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance passing through them, carrying a sharp and piercing intent.

He brought his two fingers together like a sword, and a dazzling spiritual light suddenly erupted from his fingertips. Immediately after, a strand of Sword Qi, as thin as a hair but extremely sharp, shot out in an instant, carrying a sharp whistle that sliced through the Void Realm.

"Chi—"

A soft sound broke the dead silence, and the Sword Qi sliced through the air, making a slight explosive sound.

That turtle shell was taken from a First Grade Late Stage Yao Beast, the Green-Scaled Turtle. Its texture was incomparably hard, and ordinary Magical Artifacts could hardly damage it in the slightest. At this moment, however, it was easily pierced by this slender Sword Qi, the cut was smooth as a mirror, and not even a trace of a crack spread to the surroundings.